Nights of Steel and Fire (D&D)

[LadyTevar]

After the cleric and Gaheris left, Torma glared straight at Astinius. "You are getting far too arrogant and impossible, Astinius. You did not even know those men were there, until I gave you what warning I could. You would have died the moment they attacked, if not for me, magic or not."

Yes, the little dragon was dressing down the archmage. "*We* all bought you the time to get to higher ground for your spells. *We* were the ones assaulted on all sides, while you were out of reach of most."

The copper rose to her feet, much steadier after the healing than before. "Malkamar... let's find the temple's kitchens. I'm suddenly very hungry." She walked out of the room they'd been in, her tail whipping from side to side as she left Astinius in her wake. "Maybe you can give me some of this co-coa you speak of..."

[Cynical Cat]

"Ummm. . . ." the guard hesitated. "Sure. Take one of them."

[Rogue 9]

[Awwwwww. I was all prepared to bribe him, too. ]

"Thank you," he responded. He hadn't been able to pick out an obvious leader during the raid, so he picked the most physically intact body, knowing that the spells required had a greater chance of success on an undamaged corpse.

[Comrade Tortoise]

After the cleric and Gaheris left, Torma glared straight at Astinius. "You are getting far too arrogant and impossible, Astinius. You did not even know those men were there, until I gave you what warning I could. You would have died the moment they attacked, if not for me, magic or not."

Yes, the little dragon was dressing down the archmage. "*We* all bought you the time to get to higher ground for your spells. *We* were the ones assaulted on all sides, while you were out of reach of most."

The copper rose to her feet, much steadier after the healing than before. "Malkamar... let's find the temple's kitchens. I'm suddenly very hungry." She walked out of the room they'd been in, her tail whipping from side to side as she left Astinius in her wake. "Maybe you can give me some of this co-coa you speak of..."

"I am aware of this Torma. It isnt the fact that the fight was easy. It was how under-equipped defensively they were. They fought well. They managed to sneak up on us yes and yes had you not seen them it wouold have been far nastier and I could easily have perished in the first few seconds. But that indicates skill, not equipment. They chose the engagement, they chose it's timing, location, even with what weapons they used, and what poison for that matter. If they were nightmasks, they would have known that I am a mage of considerable, if not yet exceptional power, and they would have accounted for that. Yet, none survived the horrid wilting. Even ones who had yet to be touched in battle. Normally at least someone has magical defenses strong enough, or a body hardy enough to resist the worst of the effects and survive, hell even I, can and have survived being hit that that spell without the use of spellfire... but not a one survived it, and that is unusual. Again, I could and probably am reading too far into things and letting my mild arrogance get the better of me, but I cant help but wonder. Something is wrotten in the state of Cormyr..."

[SirNitram]

"Astinius." Malkamar said patiently. "You're an idiot." The Shadovar was not exactly dicking around. "We're talking about a group build on deceit, treachery, and stealth. Do you think they're gonna give their street goons any decent equipment? It'd walk off within a week! Honestly, you Mystrans have no clue, do you?" He rubbed his face. "But you know what, if you found it too easy, next time, you can stand in front and fight three guys in brutal hand-to-hand combat, and I'll float in the air and snap people like twigs instead of taking prisoners. Alright?"

[LadyTevar]

Torma had to add her two coppers as well... at least it started as two coppers. Got change for a platnium?

"Astinius? If they weren't 'well prepared' defensively, then Why The Abyss Wasn't I Killing Them?!" That last bit was nearly a roar at the archmage as she turned herself around and stalked back into the room. "YOU, you think they weren't that powerful, because YOU cast a spell and took them down easily... AFTER _WE_ had been standing and fighting in the midst of them, and I know DAMNED well that I killed one myself, and the other two were wounded."
Now she was looming over him, her eyes blazing as her head pressed closer, forcing him to back off or get pushed down. "THINK, Astinius... They came at my Flanks, they kept moving to my Flanks, they did everything thing they could to keep away from my fangs and claws. WHY? Because they were PREPARED FOR ME."

No, this wasnt a cranky teenager who just nearly died. Not at all. And she's not a dragon, with big sharp teeth and a nasty sense of humor. Be glad she's not big enough for DragonFear just yet, although with this performance, are we sure she doesn't have it? Looks pretty damn intimidating, those teeth that close, those eyes blazing, and that near-roar as she chews Astinius up one side and down the other.

[Comrade Tortoise]

Astinius was becoming annoyed. leave it to the Shadowvar and the dragon to misconstrue what he was trying to say. The dragon was imposing. But he knew Torma, and it took the edge off a little. (will save, just for illustrative purposes:20+19=39. You arent scaring him, granted, I wasted a crit on an RP willsave)

"Dear sweet Azuth!" he cursed staring into the dragon's eye "I am not saying it was easy Torma. Look at how skillfull they were, look at what they were equipped with, and tell me that they should have fallen to that spell. It is an abberation, an abnormality, and abnormalities need to be carefully considered. Also, Malk, the use of non-lethal force was not an option with what spells I had prepared. I used those ones up earlier today, unless one of you wanted to carry a 500 lb stone statue back here, or try to move a forcecage before the guards arrived. I simply did not have the ability to do it. Otherwise I woudld have. So stop complaining about it"

He continued unabaited

"Lets look at what we know. We know we were being tailed earlier today. We know someone stalked and attacked Solarian, and we know that despite teleportation, they knew where we were, and were well prepared to fight us, and had no qualms ambushing a dragon outside the abby near reinforcements. These events are probably not coincidences. We may attract trouble like bees to flowers, but not like that. We know that they were well equipped and carried enchanted and nastily poisoned daggers which managed to overcome your own resistances to such tactics Torma. These were not nightmask thugs. we know that much. They could ahve been nightmasks, but they werent the average street punk like Malkamar seems to think. They would have been a cakewalk in the truest sense." he said calmly before taking a breath

"So, what does this tell us? It tells us these individuals planned to attack us today. It was not an impulse. They probably planned it well in advance. With that sort of planning, why couldnt they afford so much as Endurance Scrolls, to protect them from my spells, or allow them to survive their effects? Why didnt a one of them manage to survive the spell, even the ones who were not touched by combat previously? I could feel the spell, it hit with around two thirds of its maximum force.* If their preparedness for magical attacks matched their preparedness for physical attacks, at least one should have survived. I am not yet so powerful that they shouldn't have. SO either, whoever was behind this equipped weakly constitutedmen with magical weapons and metal armor, gave them a key to..something... and sent them on their way. Or they overlooked something. Perhaps we got underestimated, Gods know that happens, or perhaps, just perhaps, they didnt know our full capablities and wanted to see what they were"

He inhaled again, and decided to make a brief concession to smooth things over. Scary or not, he wanted the dragon to talk to him come the morrow

"Or perhaps, and it is entirely possible, and even likely, that I am dead wrong and reading too much into a matter best left to understanding at face value, and their all falling to that one spell was a complete fluke of nature and probability. But what use would I be if I didnt think of these alternative scenarios? And as I have always said, it is better to be paranoid and overestimate your opponents, than it is to be complacent and underestimate them. " he said flatly

"With that, think what you will. I will argue the matter, both of them, no further. We will find out which scenario is correct in due time, and no amount of bickering between old friends will change that reality"

* A tenth level rogue with slightly above average HP rolls and a +2 con mod should survive 66 damage. He wont be happy about it, but they live generally

[LadyTevar]

"Perrrrrhapsss you are dead wrrong?" Torma spat, hissing and growling as she spoke. Without warning, her wing snapped forward, smacking the mage where he stood. ((Wingslap 16+16=32))

"Tell me Asstiniussss... you knew I could do that... why did you not prrrrrreparrre for it? Why did you not have ssssomething to sssstop me?" she hissed, her eyes glowing from her anger. "Affterrr all, the sssspellsss and arrrrmorrrrrrr are available... Common as strrrrrrreet thievessssssssss. Orrrr issss it an Abnorrrrmality?"

[Comrade Tortoise]

The mage reeled at the strike. The wingslap hurt, but it was a bruise and didnt cause anything permanent. Had it done so, she would have found herself in a forcecage within seconds, or worse, turned into a statue for the night as punishment. But he wasnt about to tell her that.

"Simple, I was not expecting it" the mage hissed

"I did not choose the nature of the engagement and attack my friend like an irrate child!" the mage said, chastizing the young dragon for her foolishness

"That is the difference Torma. It is one thing to be ill-prepared for an attack you do not know is coming. If I knew you would strike me, I would have placed a contingency on myself this morning to turn you into a gnome,or perhaps a halfling when you did. Had I known I would be dealing with assassins this morning, I would have prepared spells to immobilize and capture them en-mass. But I was not expecting such things. Tomorrow, my spells will be different, because I will have learned from experience, and expect such instances.

THEY chose the method of engagement. THEY chose the place, THEY chose the targets, and THEY chose the timing."The mage hissed the last part through his teeth

"They had no excuse to not be prepared, unless there was a method in that ill-preparedness to which we are not yet privy, they prepared for the wrong instances, or they were incompetant. You may be comfortable thinking of unknown enemies as incompetant fools, but I am not. To do that is the true mark of arrogance, and of the fool. I would much rather think of incompetant foes as skillfull and cunning than the other way around. And as such, I need to know what motivated them, I need to know why they chose to attack so close to reinforcements. I need to know why they prepared the way they did, whether it was by accident, incompetance or design, and most importantly, I need to know who sent them. We all do. So think of such things before you strike me. In fact, think of the possible consequences should you ever strike me again."

[LadyTevar]

Irate Child? Change to a GNOME? Malkamar's restraining hand was shrugged off ridiculously easily as Torma lunged upward, her wings snapping out to battering Astinius bodily.

((INIT 17+3=20))
(( 16=14=30 16+10=26 SUBDUAL DAMAGE 4, 1))

[SirNitram]

Malk had tried to grab Torma, knowing what would happen when Astinius continued to mouth off. He failed to restrain her, but part of him was more worried about the mage's reaction. That part was concentrating very hard.

[19 + 2 = 21 Initaitive]
[Action Readied Via IM.]

[Comrade Tortoise]

Init: 15+2=17

Astinius noticed the dragon lurch forward, but didnt react fast enough to avoid the wingslaps. He realed back from the strikes, bruised. And he arose very very angry. Still, he would not stoop to the level of the dragon-child, thinking she could use force to solve disagreements.

He uttered the initiators of one of his favorite spells, intoning words of power as she recovered from bludgeoning him with her wings.

But noticed upon reaching into his belt pouches for the requisite ruby dust that he had forgotten to purchase it at the market the day before. The last word of the spell was a loud curse in of all things, gnomish. At that point, eh sat on the floor, and prepared to be bludgeoned with her wings, because at that point, he didnt have any spells which wouldnt injure her memorized.

"And that" he muttered "was accidental ill-preparedness. "COnsider it your lesson for the day Astinius"

[LadyTevar]

She may have been recovering from the wingslaps, but she still struck like a snake when she heard the first word of magic. Her neck snapped out, driving her horned head into his chest for a hard headbutt. Fastest way to stop a mage? Knock the wind outta him.

((16+10=26 SUBDUAL DAM: 6))

[SirNitram]

"Enough." Malkamar spoke firmly to the two, walking forward. But it was very slowly; one hand was holding that sword of his again, conjured from pure shadow, and the other was open and ready to absorb any magic cast. It was, if you ignored the moment, a very poignant view. Shadow and Weave, Light and Dark, Defense and Offense were all in perfect balance.

He looked at the two. "In these fatal circumstances, you two need to get a grip. Astinius, you have to be the most arrogant, self-absorbed, egotistical idiot I've seen ever to wield Mystra's gift outside of the teaching crystals. You rival Karsus. You tell off your friends when they bleed for you, without thought about how stupid you sound, then decided to prepare a spell against one of us."

Then the dragon gets his gaze. "And you, Torma. Yes, Astinius was a pigheaded fool, but you should know better. You are a dragon. You regale me with stories about how great, wise, and noble your kind are. Well, you certainly let your mother and father and all your family, all the way to Io, The Ninefold, down tonight. Just because he mouthed off does not excuse this."

[LadyTevar]

Then the dragon gets his gaze. "And you, Torma. Yes, Astinius was a pigheaded fool, but you should know better. You are a dragon. You regale me with stories about how great, wise, and noble your kind are. Well, you certainly let your mother and father and all your family, all the way to Io, The Ninefold, down tonight. Just because he mouthed off does not excuse this."

"Yourrr rrrrrright..." the small dragon said, her blazing eyes never leaving Astinius' form where he sat on the floor. "Next time, I ssssshall eat him and not botherrrr dissscussssssssing the matterrrr furrrrrrther." Then with royal (or feline) haughtiness, she turned her tail on the both, pausing just long enough to contemptuously scrape the floor with her back claw, as if covering up filth, before stalking out with head and tail high.

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris approached the gate, a nearly desiccated body slung over his shoulder, when he saw the guards with weapons in hand, looking inward. The body was on the ground and Bright Edge in his hand in a twinkling as he burst into a full run, barging straight through the gatehouse into the Abbey's courtyard.

He arrived to see Astinius on the ground and Torma just threatening to eat him.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE SEVEN SPELLS OF SALDRINAAR IS GOING ON HERE," he roared in his best knight-commander voice as Torma finished speaking and turned.

[Comrade Tortoise]

"Torma and I got into a 'discussion' about the nature and relative preparedness of our attackers. Something I said angered her, she hit me with her wings. I told her to never do that again, and made a reference to if I had been expecting it this mornng, there would have been a gnoming contingency, she hit me two more times. I tried to put her in a forcecage until she calmed down, forgot to buy the components yesterday, spell failed, I got hit again" the mage said flatly, not bothering to get up off the damn floor

Then it hit him.

"Perhaps her anger had something to do with her nearly dying and my appearance relatively uninjured from the rooftop while saying one aspect of our earlier fight was more difficult than another aspect, and attempting to figure out a reason for the disparity. Who knows. I will never understand the minds of dragons or females and she is both. Perhaps I came off as arrogant. But that was not my intention. Social graces never have been my...strong suit"

The mage was unapologetic, his voice flat and expressionless. He would have been perfectly willing to sit down and discuss the problem with the dragon, smooth over any misconceptions. Instead, she decided to get violent. And that never sat well. He was used to being refered to as arrogant. It is what happened when you were literally smarter than everyone else in the room. He was used to having things he said fly right over their heads, or have them misconstrue what he was trying to say.

[SirNitram]

"Astinius thought it'd be wise to jabber on about how, despite the fact we all almost just died... And had I been as unarmed as I appeared, and the poison worked, we would have died or been taken prisoner... That he would go on and on about how the enemy was clearly not well equipped and it was easy." The Shadovar said calmly. The perfect balance was slowly discharged; the shadows wisping away, the concentration of the Weave being released.

"He also discovered that you should not be an arrogant little idiot and continue mouthing off to a dragon. It's not a wise move. It gets most people eaten."

[Comrade Tortoise]

He got up off the floor. He was going to be sore in the morning as it was, he had no intention of being filthy as well

"Taken prisoner is more likely. If they wanted to kill us, they probably would have used a different poison, one whch hurt us, instead of immobilizing us" the mage said as he pulled himself off the floor

"Look Malk, it is my job in this group to pick apart the motivations and abilities of our enemies. To wonder, even if it is inconvenient, why they are equipped in one way and not the other. Why they used one tactic, and one poison, and not another. If I overlook a possibility because it is inconvenient, or because we got hurt and dont want to think about the fact that it could have been harder, we could very well die the next time. I am sorry for being an arrogant jackass about it. Perhaps I should have waited until morning to bring it up. But the fight was being discussed."

His voice now was gentle. Not the sort where he was talking down to someone, but a reconciliatory tone. This was Astinius trying to make amends. It was not seen often.

[SirNitram]

"Your job, Astinius, was to take prisoners." Malkamar replied simply. "Because you have the magic to do that. You failed spectacularly at that job. Do not go giving yourself brand new responsibilities simply to belittle us when it suits you, because frankly, I have better things to do if you intend to keep up such behavior. Standing still is inviting reprisal from my family, and if I came here simply to be mouthed off at because you think you're clever, I am going to leave."

Malkamar folded his arms. "You're here because you've got a dab hand at Weave magic. I won't deny that. But you continually demonstrate that all the book-knowledge you've picked up is completely without sense. And you've shown you'll target allies who tick you off. Why should we trust you an inch?"

[LadyTevar]

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE SEVEN SPELLS OF SALDRINAAR IS GOING ON HERE," he roared in his best knight-commander voice as Torma finished speaking and turned.

"eeep!" Torma cowers for a moment from the angry paladin, her neck and wings lowering instinctively, defensively ...

... Then Astinius opens his big mouth again, and Malkamar points out what a arrogant crock of steaming manure Astinius was spouting, and Torma didn't have to say a word as she tried to pull herself into some dignity and not look like she was expecting Gaheris to spank her and send her to her room.

"In short...." Torma finally stated flatly, striving for wounded dignity. "I gave him the beating he richly deserved." And she started forward again, head high, hoping to resume her (interrupted) haughty exit. "If you'll excuse me, I am going to search for dinner."

[Rogue 9]

"Tormantineth, you will stay where you are," Gaheris said icily. "We do not assault anyone, least of all other members of the group, over mere words. Astinius was wounded along with all of us in that trap, and while I grant that you had provocation, you must not allow yourself to be ruled by pride. Your power is not yet so great that you can get away with attacking archmagi over matters as small as that, and I pray that when it is, you'll have become wise enough to not do so." He took a deep breath and turned to Astinius.

"And you, Astinius, should be ashamed of yourself. You do not tell someone who was almost killed less than an hour before that it was easy, especially when you were above it all. I will NOT have you belittling anyone else after they risked their lives for you. And that doesn't even begin to account for your miserable tactical decisions. How hard would it have been to have left one to us? I've trained urchins right off the streets who had better sense than you displayed tonight! I expect you to at the very least improve your judgment, and it would be great if you could not brag about how easy an engagement was when you're the least injured of all your companions."

[Comrade Tortoise]

"You are right, I could have and in retrospect should have left one unaffected by the spell. My goal with that spell was to use one they couldnt evade, I relied on the apparantly false assumption, that anyone with the stomach to plan an attack on us, would have at least one among their number who could survive it, and be injured enough to be easily subdued. I was wrong, but it was the only spell I had which I could use to end the fight, and potentially do that simultaneously. It was a foolish decision, and in the future, I will prepare more holding spells."

"However, I will repeat one more time, I am not saying the fight was easy. Not by any stretch. I almost died on that rooftop. I was just as hurt as Torma was* before I applied Mystra's gifts to healing myself. The wounds are still present if you want me to show you. So, I was not trying to belittle anyone. If I came off that way, I apologize.".

he bowed apologetically.

"I love you all, and I wasnt trying to belittle you. To belittle someone when talking to them requires malice. I just have incompetance."

"However, something new is afoot methinks, and this will have to be discussed when we are more... level headed. I do apologize for the lack of prisoners. I do not doubt that we will have more opportunities to interrogate prisoners though, and in the mean time, hopefully information can be gleaned from the corpse I believe Gaheris left to bring back."


(*OOC Note: 29 our of 75 HP, or down to about a third of the hit points, in fact, his robes should be stained with blood)

[LadyTevar]

"Tormantineth, you will stay where you are," Gaheris said icily. "We do not assault anyone, least of all other members of the group, over mere words. Astinius was wounded along with all of us in that trap, and while I grant that you had provocation, you must not allow yourself to be ruled by pride. Your power is not yet so great that you can get away with attacking archmagi over matters as small as that, and I pray that when it is, you'll have become wise enough to not do so." He took a deep breath and turned to Astinius.

St the start of the scolding, the young copper's head snapped around, a hiss escaping her involuntarily, her tailtip lashing. The following lecture stopped the hiss, but the tailtip never stopped demonstrating her annoyance.

"Fine." she spat when he was finished. "May I go eat -now-?"
Ahh... teenagers. Once they're riled up, they stay that way for hours....

[Rogue 9]

Gaheris' expression softened. "Yes, you may. It was important that you hear that, but I won't keep you longer than necessary. In fact, I'll go to the kitchens and see what I can do; it's a little late to drag the cooks from the barracks just for us. That is, of course, unless one of you knows how to cook better than I," he said with a chuckle that belied his nervousness about what this incident would do to them as a group. "But first, I have something I need to retrieve," he continued, turning about in the courtyard to go back outside the gates and retrieve the corpse of the assassin.